Advanced Certificate Program in Visual Theory and Practice (VTP)

The advanced certificate program in Visual Theory and Practice(VTP) offers students the core knowledge and the skills to pursue visual research related to their own fields of study. Developed and coordinated by the VTP executive committee, it is a cross-disciplinary program giving MA and PhD students the opportunity to engage with visuality and visual methodologies during their studies. This includes access to courses on the theory and practice of working with visual imagery as well as one-on-one supervision on a thesis that centers on the analysis of visual material or the production of a visual project. Additional activities include seminar courses, public lectures, conferences, workshops and public programs organized by faculty, invited guests and artists in residence. Through such activities, students will become familiar with, and engage in, interdisciplinary dialogues on visual imagery across various fields of study.

The basis of the VTP curriculum consists of a set of core courses which survey theoretical approaches and conceptual analytical vocabulary in critical visual studies, offer a history of visual media, and introduce students to research methodologies. This will provide all students with a common grounding, including a basic understanding of the principle of visual language and its conceptual vocabulary, and the interdisciplinary skills to critically investigate visual imagery and integrate visual methods into scholarship in their own fields of study. Following this, students taking the VTP advanced certificate will be able to choose from a set of elective courses concentrated along two tracks of study: one focused on Visual Theory (track I) and the production of moving images, and another on the study of Visual Practice (track II). Track I will prepare students to forge innovative connections across disciplines dedicated to the study of production, circulation, and critical reception of visual imagery in historical and contemporary perspectives.Track II will provide focused training in the creation of still and moving images, equipping interested students with valuable skills for the production of their own creative works. Along the two tracks, the range of issues covered by the program includes film studies, filmmaking, photography, medieval and modern art, cultural iconology, media production, digital culture and new media technologies, and data visualization. This will allow students to design course combinations along each track aimed to enhance their independent research, and analytical and practical skills in an environment of intellectual and creative openness.

In order to officially pursue the VTP advanced certificate, please fill in this form and email VSP@ceu.edu to notify us of your intention.